


The Double-Faced Portal | PT 1

by rallyfae



Category: The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), The Spiderwick Chronicles - Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-21 16:43:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20696747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rallyfae/pseuds/rallyfae
Summary: “I don’t want to be like him, but I feel like I am a lot like him.”Jared let out a loud sigh, and snapped his sketchbook closed. Maybe it just wasn’t the right day, nor the right time.When was it ever?





	1. IN WHICH The Trees Sob

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi everyone. Unfortunately, I've never written anything involving The Spiderwick Chronicles before, so y'all are going to have to bear with me on my first chapter. Maybe it'll be good, maybe it'll be less. I'm a steady person when it comes to getting straight to the point, but for this story, I'll be starting at a middle-school level, which is short and sweet. It's how my fifth-grade self, who was completely engaged in the Spiderwick series; would have liked it.
> 
> Ciao! 
> 
> -rallyfae <3

##  **Chapter One: IN WHICH The Trees Sob**

If it had been any hotter, the old, Victorian-like Spiderwick mansion would have been practically dissolving, like an ice cube sitting smack-dab in a sauna.

Jared Grace was spread out on the new couch in the living room, his cell phone pressed to his ear as he listened attentively to the voice on the other end of the line. The old fan whirred nearby, blasting warm air.

It wasn’t like him anymore to stay cooped up in his bedroom. Jared’s twin, Simon, had managed to take over his brother’s entire space, forcing Jared’s privacy to be invaded every now and then. Simon had thought he’d be upset about the change, but Jared had surprisingly turned out the opposite. As long as there weren’t tens to thousands of Scarab beetles crawling in his bedsheets, he was alright.

And thankfully, Mallory had headed off to Orlando just a few days ago. _ Fencing tournaments, _ she had said. Jared had to admit, she’d been working twice as hard ever since Chris, her old fencing captain, had declared quits.

Jared had never really liked him, anyway. Mallory, on the other hand, had seemed a little disgruntled. 

He glanced over at the corner of the room. The fan had developed weird clicking noises.

_ “And those phookas you were talking about?” _ Laurie continued on the phone. _ “Nick told me he saw one just last week. Super touchy, he said.” _

Jared smirked. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d talked about phookas. “When’s he coming back?”

_ “Next Monday,” _ Laurie answered, almost immediately. _ “Not too excited.” _

“Tell him I said hi.” He rolled his eyes, knowing too well Laurie couldn’t see it. 

He honestly wished she were here, helping him update the Guide. She’d become a little more than an expert; and sometimes, Jared couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous, much less fascinated.

_ “Yeah, definitely.” _ There was a sudden pause on the other end. _ “Um, well, how’s school and everything?” _ Laurie asked hesitantly. _ “Are the people okay?” _

Jared started fiddling with a loose hem of his band shirt. “Yeah, I mean, I guess. I think I might be safe from expulsions for now.”

_ “Oh, good,” _ Laurie replied, sarcasm heavily coating her voice. Meanwhile, in the background, a car engine roared, and Jared could faintly hear Laurie’s name being called - over and over.

“I think you should go,” he said, trying his best not to sound rude.

_ “Yeah. Sorry, Jared. Hey, listen, I’ll text you if I get any updates, alright?” _ Jared automatically knew she was referring to field guide information. _ “We’re doing all the research we can over here. Wish you could join us. Or something.” _

_ Me too, _ he wanted to say. But instead, he found himself frowning at the now-heated hardwood floor, his toes curling in discomfort. “Yeah. I’ve just been… busy.” He pushed himself off the couch, now heading for the kitchen.

_ “No worries. You know, we’re always willing to help,” _ Laurie suggested, in a soft tone that Jared couldn’t quite figure out. _ “With you being experienced and all.” _

He shrugged, another action that Laurie failed to see - and cracked open the fridge. “True.”

_ “Plus, we’re always looking to use your drawing skills. You’re quite the artist, if you didn’t know.” _

Jared felt his cheeks warm a bit; and told himself it was just the sweltering heat, which was growing worse by the minute. He dug out an ice-cold Pepsi from behind one of Simon’s mason jars, and pressed it to his neck. “Thanks, I guess.”

_ “Bye, Jared.” _

“Bye, Laur.”

As he clicked off and shook his dark, sweaty hair out of his face, he realized he knew for a fact that he hadn’t been truly busy at all. What _ was _ true was that he’d been rummaging around in Arthur’s stuff week after week, always coming up with the same old news and the same old material. Frustrating as it was, Jared refused to give up—keeping in mind that the others, including Laurie’s brother Nick, were also trying their best.

But other than that, Jared had had a lousy summer. Helen had taken the boys to a couple baseball games, a week-long trip to Florida, and all of Mallory’s previous fencing competitions, making sure they didn’t miss a single one. His sister still remained utterly infuriating when she was around the house, but the silence overlapping the sound of the nearby fan was even more excruciating than Jared had to face.

He couldn’t even think of going up to Simon. Not now, when he was probably fussing over dried, dehumidified mealworms.

Suddenly wanting a need for fresh air, Jared grabbed his sketchbook and bag and made his way out the back door, a blast of torrid heat slamming into him like a brick wall. The sun shot into his eyes, making him squint. 

He knew very well the heat would make everyone more than slightly cranky, and for him, it was worse. If he got moody, he would rather be out of the house when that happened.

Dry leaves crunched underneath his feet as Jared trudged to the woods out back, finding himself inhaling the thick, humid smell of oils and chemicals. A month ago, Simon had found Byron some old tires the griffin could play with—and from the smell of it, they now seemed to be rotting away. 

He wrinkled his nose.

For some odd reason, Thimbletack had been mainly absent, for the most part. No pranks around the house nor reminders of the dangers of destruction. Whenever the Grace family called out to him, only silence managed to respond. 

Jared had to admit he was a bit bummed, since Thimbletack most likely knew some of Arthur’s secrets—and that would be a big step in recreating the Guide.

But it wasn’t like the little brownie would actually think of giving up those secrets. So it wasn’t exactly much help. 

As Jared entered the vast clearing, he realized the silence was even thicker than before. No birds chirping. No giggling in the high grass. No sounds of wings fluttering, and no signs of weird insects brushing his face.

It was like time had frozen. Everything seemed… too still.

Jared couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed out on something. Thimbletack going MIA since last month with zero explanation? No obvious faerie activity? 

Suddenly, he froze, his body tensing with dread. _ Had he lost the Sight? Was that even possible? _ He laughed dryly. _ No way. This was all too weird. _

But the Graces’ lives could always get too weird, whether anyone liked it or not.

Climbing to the top of a hill, Jared plopped down in a clear spot, safe of high grass—and flipped to a fresh new page in his sketchbook. Looking around, memories flooded back as he realized this was the exact same hill that the stray sods had tricked him, his brother, and his sister into going in perpetual circles.

He took a shuddering breath as his pencil touched the paper. Something about sketching, or drawing in general, made Jared get the tingles. Would this turn out okay or would it be just utter crap? How much paper would have to be used? How much detail would be required? How long would the description have to be, and how much more would he have to know before he would even be able to call it completed?

The tip of the lead snapped, and Jared squeezed the pencil, hard. He could only go so far to blame everything on the heat.

His uncle Spiderwick hadn’t left any specific rules when writing the Guide, which meant Jared didn’t have to, either. He hated to admit it, but there were times when he longed to be like Arthur—and times when he certainly didn’t. 

He couldn’t help but think back to that night in the stuffy car, with goosebumps running down his arms and his head pounding with agitation. The big face-off, with the giants and the rat king.

_ “I didn’t know the hobgoblin was really a spriggan,” Jared said. “Uncle Arthur lost everything trying to beat faeries. And he put everyone he cared about in total danger.” _

What he’d said next still rang in his head like a large church bell.

_ “I don’t want to be like him, but I feel like I am a lot like him.” _

Jared let out a loud sigh, and snapped his sketchbook closed. Maybe it just wasn’t the right day, nor the right time. 

When was it ever?

Suddenly, he heard scuffling beneath his feet, and let out a gasp. It was awfully startling, mostly because it was the first noise he’d heard since he’d came out. 

Looking around him, he realized that the trees seemed to be… moving. They were practically expanding, and lunging towards him from the roots that held them captive to the soil. Their branches drooped and increased in length, spilling out around them. Several high-pitched wails filled the clearing, like an entire crowd was weeping in harmony.

It was almost frightening, and he immediately wanted to run. But like Arthur would say, _ “It’s all about the details.” _

“This is insane,” he said aloud, like saying it would cease everything.

But it didn’t. The trees now swayed back and forth violently—like they were out to get him—and Jared backed away, eyes wide.

One eye sturdily fixed on the trees, he grabbed his bag lying at his feet, not even bothering to shove his sketchbook in it. Making a mental note to do further research on the situation at hand, Jared fled from the scene, refusing to look back.

As he reached the house and shoved the key into the lock, he realized that he wasn’t affected by the heat anymore. In fact, he could only perceive the amount of chills.

* * *

“Simon!” Jared yelled up the stairs, still trying to shake away the shivers. “You’re not going to believe this—”

He stopped abruptly mid-sentence, as he watched his brother walk down the stairs slowly, a saddened expression dawning on his features. “Simon, what happened?”

“Jeffrey.”

“What?”

“Jeffrey!” Simon repeated, almost harshly. 

“What about him?”

“He’s dead, Jared.”

There was an awkward silence, as Jared watched his twin wipe his face angrily. He wasn’t good at this stuff—he didn’t know what to say. 

That mouse, along with Lemondrop—had been with Simon through thick and thin, even before they arrived at the Spiderwick Estate. How could he break the silence without turning Simon away? Simon’s pets died all the time, and there was nothing anyone, or anything—could do about it. 

Throughout his whole life, Jared had been dubbed the rowdy, disorderly kid, and Simon, the clever and insightful one. Even through Simon’s smarts, Jared wished his brother knew how to move on. 

Life was life, and things happened that people wished wasn’t possible. Even if they tried their best to wish it away.

Like the trees.

A part of Jared wished he never witnessed the mind-rupturing scene, but the other part of him knew it was a helpful aspect, let alone a new one. This was a big part of the beginning of everything.

His breath wavered. He just couldn’t sit around and do nothing, like a coward.

Jared knew he had taken part in defeating Mulgarath—but ever since that whole thing with Nick and Laurie, he’d been more determined to dig deeper into the faerie world, and he had to admit, it stunned him.

“I’m sorry, Simon,” he said. “But I have to tell you something. Something that happened while I was out.” 

“What now?” His brother sniffled, and Jared turned away, finding himself hesitant to say the words. 

“The trees out back—beyond the woods,” he went on, having no choice but to blurt it out. “They were moving. I don’t know if it was some kind of faerie activity, but it was weird. Really weird, Simon. It didn’t involve any kind of faerie we know—actually, I don’t know if it involved faeries at all.”

Simon seemed to show a bit of interest when he heard “really weird”. “Moving trees?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Like in  _ The Wizard of Oz?” _

Jared gave him a look.

Both of them knew there had been no wind, only blasts of heat throughout the early afternoon. Simon looked like he had absolutely no solution to the problem. “Anything else?”

“They—well…”

“What?”

“Well—it sounded like they were crying,” Jared said softly.

“Yeah, that’s weird. I haven’t read anything like that before,” Simon commented, chewing on his bottom lip. After a minute-long pause, he took a deep breath. “I’m going to go get my stuff. We should go check it out.”

“No, Simon—” Jared started to say, but his twin had already bolted up the staircase.

Groaning, he collapsed onto the couch, utterly exhausted and on edge. The fan in the corner had somehow died off completely.

The entire house was now inaudible, making Jared want to scream.


	2. IN WHICH There Is A Skeleton In The Cupboard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And right when Jared thought they’d won, it had all started again."
> 
> The Grace twins discover something none of them believed would ever happen.

##  **Chapter Two: IN WHICH There Is A Skeleton In The Cupboard**

“I heard you on the phone earlier,” Simon commented as the twins made their way down the hill, rocks sliding down beneath their feet. The heat had calmed, and the air didn’t have the same thickness as it had before. Instead, a cool grey fog had swept over the hills, the woods, and probably the entire clearing—making Jared shiver, to the point of almost being terrified. 

“Let me guess, you want to know who I was talking to,” said Jared, with his eyes tightly screwed shut, and his arms folded around himself in an effort to comfort his shaking figure. He must have known better to think that those thin floors were equally dense to the amount of a three-inch wood plank. “Why do you care about my social life anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Simon asked, skidding to a safe stop at the end of the hill. 

“You have friends, right?”

“I guess. But they would  _ never _ want to come over  _ here. _ And Mom’s always worried.” Simon refused to make eye contact with Jared when he mentioned their mother.

“Maybe you should befriend a faerie,” Jared started to joke, but he stopped and his breath hitched when he saw Simon’s face had paled.

Jared looked ahead, where his brother was staring—and went cold.

Tens, maybe thousands, of thick, lengthy poles shot up from the wide earth, filling their vision; with hundreds of beings tightly strapped to them. As Jared looked closer, he could see that the majority of them were elves—crying out to the large, threatening figure looming over them.

Mulgarath, the ogre that the Grace kids had defeated literal years ago, were sneering at the captives through scarred patches on his face that looked like mere injuries. 

He clapped a hand over Simon’s mouth, just in case his brother started to scream, and pushed them both behind a rough, patchy bush, safely hidden from one’s clear view.

More than several thoughts were running through Jared Grace’s head. But the one thought that stood out most was,  _ How in the hell did he survive? _

Jared was sure Simon was thinking the same thing. 

The ogre swept a large hand over the elves, and they almost went silent. It caused Mulgarath to curl the hand into a menacing fist; and Jared remembered how all those years ago, that hand was holding something that would have caused evil to take over more than effortlessly. 

The Guide, which the Grace kids swore would never fall into the wrong hands ever again.

Mulgarath let out a scratchy laugh. It almost sounded like thunder, much more powerful than years ago. Jared knew he had the absolute right to be afraid—though it only made him feel like a weak, regular thirteen year-old boy. 

After what seemed like an hour of staring, Jared noticed his brother’s eyes had long left the ogre’s figure. It was obvious he was looking at something else. Jared swallowed hard.

He followed Simon’s gaze, having a sinking feeling it was going to be far much worse.

Way in the back, where the older elves hung, were two figures that barely stood out, despite their height measurements. 

His sister, Mallory, and a worn-out Thimbletack were bound close together on separate poles. They were both shaking, and looked strangely unconscious.

Not to mention, their house brownie was missing a leg.

* * *

Jared Grace tried to keep himself stable on his feet, already feeling his knees start to wobble. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the scene, and the whole thing just made him want to throw up—knowing he and Simon had to go rescue them, for whatever it took. But Mallory didn’t have the elves’ power, and Thimbletack would definitely need some sort of assistance if he was going to get out. But how were they going to make it past Mulgarath?

Mulgarath. One of the most fearsome names in the history of names. Scratch that. The most fearsome name. Jared remembered when he thought that only uttering the name would summon him to their area, and he had trembled at the thought of it. Thinking back to a few years ago, he was way too grateful when he realized that Mulgarath would have barged into the Spiderwick Estate, regardless if his family had been there or not. If he and Simon hadn’t gotten kidnapped by the dwarves, Jared would have made a stupid decision in front of the ogre, all with his mom watching, and he would have done something he wouldn’t been able to regret—just before they all got killed because he hadn’t been able to think twice.

And right when Jared thought they’d won, it had all started again.

His limbs finally gave in, and he fell to his knees, his fists digging into the dirt. He fought the urge to pound the earth into a pulp. 

“Simon, what are we going to do?” he managed to whisper hoarsely.

His brother didn’t answer, and only kept staring. Now strangely annoyed—Jared reached out and pinched Simon. He hardly reacted, which angered Jared. 

His heartbeat raced, like it was on a tempered workout.

“Hey, idiot!” he wanted to growl. “If we keep sitting here like a bunch of toads, Mallory will  _ die _ right in front of us, and we’ll have no one else to blame, with no excuses for our stupid actions. Remember the dwarves? Because of us, everyone we know is going to end up just like them.”

But Jared didn’t say that. He couldn’t say that. That was his past self, and he couldn’t turn back; not when he’d been working so hard on improving. He thought back to all those restless nights on the phone, Laurie being a better therapist than anyone else his mother had sent him off to. Anger wasn’t going to solve anything, and Jared had wished he was smart enough to see that in the past; knowing it would have fixed more problems than ruined them. Plus, that would only made Simon feel weaker, and he knew exactly how that felt. In fact, he needed to take charge—starting now. 

He felt his fist unclench. His heart returned to its normal pace.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he put a hand on Simon’s shoulder. Like magic, Simon’s head turned to him slowly, dark brown eyes blinking away tears.

“We need to go get them,” Jared said as calmly as he could, and his brother nodded.

Before the twins could put their heads together and form a plan, Jared glimpsed something dark in the ogre’s pocket. It looked oddly familiar, and he pulled Simon back down into the bush.

_ “Ow!” _

“Simon, do you see that?”

“ _ No, _ Jared, I don’t see our  _ sister _ about to get  _ murdered.” _

“Not that!” Jared pointed in the direction of the ogre’s robe as best he could, without attracting any attention. “Right there. That pocket. There’s something in there.”

Simon’s eyes narrowed.

Just then, Mulgarath turned, facing the pocket away from them—but now, the ogre himself was turned towards the twins.

Jared immediately ducked down, taking Simon along—and tried to stifle his breathing. Maybe Mulgarath hadn’t seen them?  _ The ogre wasn’t too bright, _ he remembered. Just like in the movies, or in every threatening situation, the characters needed a distraction.

As Jared shut his eyes tightly and tried to think, he began to notice his hearing was zoning in on the elves’ screaming. And as he was forced to listen, a horrible realization came into his mind.

The elves weren’t focused on their own safety. They never were. Despite their rules of honor and ethics, they obviously weren’t the type to beg for their freedom.

They were imploring something else. Something that Mulgarath had that they wanted, or believed belonged to them—and the ogre was keeping them from retrieving it.

Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide.

Jared shook his head bitterly. That couldn’t be true—Jared himself had made sure to lock the Guide up back in the chest with the protection spell Thimbletack had set once more, only to be unlocked when Jared had his fill of research. It hadn’t been touched in several months.

But the ogre seemed too happy to presume his version of the Guide was fake.


End file.
